The Best of the BlueJeans Blog in 2017

With 2018 only a few days away, it’s easy to get caught up in planning for the new year. In fact, our entire engineering team is working hard on new features and integrations that we plan to roll out in the coming months. And we’re really looking forward to sharing those with you.

But before we say goodbye to 2017, we should take a moment to look back at some of the highlights of this past year to see what you enjoyed reading the most on the BlueJeans Blog. We covered topics ranging from product announcements (hello, Dolby!) to video conferencing ROI to the importance of transformational CIOs, and you really enjoyed reading what our experts had to say.

Take a look back through our ten most popular blog posts from 2017:

1. Death and Taxes? No… Death to (Video) Taxes
There is a humbling moment when you realize that even though you are a college-educated adult and a seasoned executive who can handle the art of the deal, you can’t figure out how to get audio and video to work simultaneously in a virtual room full of people. See how to eliminate a range of video call tax issues, such as the “Where is that Feedback Coming From? Tax” and the “Where Does This Cord Go? Tax” with BlueJeans Rooms.

2. BlueJeans Teams with Microsoft to Add Greater Value to Customers
At Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft announced that BlueJeans will be a video interop partner for Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork in Microsoft Office 365. Why does this matter for customers? Because BlueJeans makes video communications remarkably easy for Microsoft customers by providing a gateway that helps users access Teams anywhere, on any room system.

3. Announcing Superior Meeting Experiences with Dolby Voice
Challenges such as background noise, not knowing who’s speaking, distracting echoes, people talking over one another, and uneven sound levels all contribute to less effective video meetings. That’s why we’ve improved the BlueJeans video experience and made every meeting easier and more effective with Dolby Voice.

4. In Good Company… Introducing Quentin Gallivan
In August 2017, Quentin Gallivan, a four-time CEO with deep experience guiding numerous industry-leading enterprise platform and cloud companies, joined BlueJeans as CEO. And Krish Ramakrishnan formalized the role he was born to play—Chief of Innovation and Strategy and Executive Chairman. For our company, customers, and partners, this is a dream scenario.

5. Welcome! 5 Pro Tips for New BlueJeans Users
Au revoir clunky video equipment, glitchy screen sharing, and randomly muted audio! Now that you have BlueJeans, you have access to reliable, secure, easy-to-use video meetings. Get started with a few tips for hosting a flawless first meeting.

7. The Real ROI of Video Conferencing
Whether you’re watching a music festival on Facebook Live, Periscoping from a Paris Fashion Week runway, or FaceTiming distant relatives, live video is playing an increasingly central role in everyday life. So why is hasn’t it become mainstream in the workplace? See how live video can empower employees to build stronger relationships regardless of whether they’re in the office, at a coffee shop, or at home.

8. 5 Traits of a Live Leader, and How to Become One
Relationships matter in the workplace. As a leader, making connections with your employees is extremely important to ensure the entire team is aligned and working toward the same goal. As businesses are becoming increasingly global, that face-to-face connection becomes even more important. But in a world where employees are spread across cities, states, and countries, how can leadership continue to be “live” and make face-to-face connections?

9. The Future of Audio is Video… Or, The Hair Dryer Test
When you’re setting goals with your teammates or working with an external partner on a big project, it is the words that you say that will affect the direction of your work, and the direction of your company. And so when poor audio quality impacts a meeting, it can result in misunderstandings, lost productivity, and damage to relationships with employees, customers, and partners. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case with BlueJeans and Dolby Audio. See what happens when Chief Product Officer Mark Strassman uses a hair dryer during his video meeting.

10. The Difference Between the Traditional CIO and the Transformational CIO
When most of us think of a CIO, we are thinking of the traditional CIO. There are several characteristics that identify the traditional CIO, typically centered around building an organization that supports technology. This makes sense, and fits well for organizations that have not started their digital transformation journey. However, the role of the traditional CIO is in decline, and as more organizations recognize the strategic value that technology plays, the demand for the CIO shifts from traditional to transformational.

A special thanks to all of our readers, guest bloggers, and regular contributors who made 2017 a great year for the BlueJeans Blog.

What was your favorite blog post of the year? Do you have any topics you’d like to see us cover in 2018? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author

Jade Hill is the Content Marketing Manager at BlueJeans and runs the BlueJeans Resource Hub. She graduated from the University of Chicago and spent years working in higher education before transitioning to the world of digital marketing. When not writing blog posts or customer stories, Jade enjoys hiking with her dogs, reading, and exploring the California coast.